CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

Bikes are like shoes, I think

(32 posts)
  • Started 5 years ago by Greenroofer
  • Latest reply from MediumDave

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12

  1. Greenroofer
    Member

    So the response to the question of why I have five bicycles is that they are a bit like shoes. While one pair is all you really need (provided they are sensible enough), more specialised shoes, suitable for different things, make your journeys pleasanter or more fun.

    So that got me thinking, what kind of shoe can I equate to what kind of bicycle...

    My commuter bike is a sensible brogue (women's brogues also available). Solid. Heavy. Works in the wet. Dependable. Wouldn't want to walk miles in it.

    My folding bike is an office shoe. Sensible, A bit dull. Good for a short trip on nice surfaces. Fits well under a desk.

    My Elephant Bike is a pair of wellies.

    My fancy titanium audax bike is...well I'm not sure what it is. A high-end running shoe? Not sure, somehow for it to be a running shoe it would need to be carbon.

    My hipster fixie (if I had one) would be some kind of uncomfortable pointy-toed thing that was mainly style over substance. It would probably be suede. If I wore women's shoes I can imagine it would have a very high heel.

    A gravel bike would be an on-trend trail shoe. In 2021 it will look very definitely like something from 2019.

    Any further suggestions?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  2. acsimpson
    Member

    Could the audax bike be a hiking boot/shoe. Comfortable and supportive enough to go all day but not about to break a world speed record?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  3. MediumDave
    Member

    An old 3-speed like tartan slippers, maybe ones that have been lovingly chewed up by a terrier.

    An urban arrow perhaps like Crocs?

    I think my "hipster" fixie most resembles a single battered Converse found hanging from a phone line. It may or may not smell faintly of cheese.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  4. crowriver
    Member

    "An old 3-speed"

    That is the pair of comfy old brown brogues.

    "commuter bike"

    More like a pair of "urban" trainers of the sort office workers wear while walking to work. Then change into office shoes stored in desk drawer or locker...

    "My Elephant Bike is a pair of wellies."

    I'd say more a pair of workwear safety boots or shoes, the type worn in factories or by posties in a sorting office or depot. Possibly with steel toe caps and robust, heavy as hell.

    BMX is a pair of Vans.

    Traditional touring bike is a sensible pair of leather walking boots or "stout shoes", the sort you rub dubbin on and last for decades.

    Audax bike a lighter weight version of the above, with more technical features, made by a specialist manufacturer.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  5. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    The Scaffolding Bike RIP;

    Posted 5 years ago #

  6. Greenroofer
    Member

    @crowriver - Yes! That's much more like an Elephant Bike.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  7. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I think a velomobile would have to be Marty McFly's self-lacing Nike Mags.

    My recumbent bike is very much like a pair of trail/walking shoes. They're well over ten years old and you've done a lot of walking in them, so they've had new insoles once or twice, and they've been resoled once too. The Goretex lining doesn't really work anymore, but the uppers are so well broken in that you just keep wearing them.

    Matilda the Elephant Bike is a pair of late-90s clumpy black leather loafers. Muckle heels and soles, fairly comfortable, but you can't run in them and they are definitely on the sturdy end of fashionable.

    My Brompton is like my Keen sandals. Works in all weathers, though you'd probably get wet doing so, and as they are practical-stylish, you tend to take them anywhere and inevitably wear them with whatever clothes fit the occasion.

    My crank forward bike is like a pair of oxblood Doc Martens: funky and cool, people notice them, and you know you should be able to knock about in them quite happily all day every day, but somehow they're just not as comfortable as everyone says, and so they spend too much time sitting under the bed gathering dust.

    My old mountain bike is a pair of tall heeled leather boots that you bought ages ago when they were the height of fashion. You wore them all the time at first but eventually realised they were just ridiculously unsuitable for your later lifestyle (see trail/walking shoes), but you have too much history invested in them that you just can't bring yourself to throw them out. This narrative may in fact be based upon a pair of leather boots I own and never wear anymore.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  8. fimm
    Member

    My TT bike is like my cross country spikes - very good at what they do but totally impractical for anything else, and you can take part in triathlon/cross country perfectly well without owning such things.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  9. nobrakes
    Member

    I have too many pairs of shoes.

    My Crosstrail is a pair of walking boots.
    My Tarmac is a pair of high end running shoes.
    My Fuego recumbent is a pair of Goretex trail boots
    My Sprint trike is a pair of wellies
    My M5 recumbent is a pair of not yet invented winged mercury shoes
    Our Quetzal recumbent tandem is 2 pairs of waders :)

    Posted 5 years ago #

  10. LivM
    Member

    My ebike is my pair of closed toe sandals that I've been wearing everywhere since I bought them, regardless of style. They are comfortable and don't hurt my feet. On a few inclement occasions where I have to wear other shoes I'm grumpy and uncomfortable. I should probably get rid of some of my other pairs of shoes now that I hardly ever use them since I got the sandals.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  11. Morningsider
    Member

    My Gazelle is a pair of fur lined, steel toe-capped rigger boots. Comfy, practical and weather proof. Not made for running. My rigid mountain bike is an elderly pair of adidas Sambas, sturdy, unflashy and will outlast the human race. My Giant road bike (actually size S - but you know what I mean) are those high-end running trainers that you blew a fortune on years ago, ran into the ground but somehow can't bring yourself to throw out for sentimental reasons (or possibly just mental reasons).

    Posted 5 years ago #

  12. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    an elderly pair of adidas Sambas

    Smile starting.

    can't bring yourself to throw out for sentimental reasons (or possibly just mental reasons).

    Smile complete.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  13. Trixie
    Member

    My hybrid is hiking shoes. Suitable for almost all conditions and can run in them if needed.

    My aged MTB is a pair of broken-in vintage Docs.

    My e-bike is those kids' trainers with the wheels in the heels. Heelys?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  14. Snowy
    Member

    My CX bike is now wearing crampons.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  15. acsimpson
    Member

    My commuter is a pair of well worn Clarks lace ups. The soles have been replaced several times, likewise the lhe laces. Any sore spots can be fixed with new insoles.
    Occasionally they look like a toe is about to come through but all they need is some TLC and a good polish to make them carry on through another winter.

    My mountain bike is like a bridesmaid's shoes. More expensive than you'd care to admit and only taken out on rare occasions before being cleaned and hung back up.

    The Helios meanwhile is a set of matching Christmas jumpers slippers for me and the kids.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  16. wingpig
    Member

    Walking boots; proper ones, where the soles, D-rings and laces can be replaced.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  17. sallyhinch
    Member

    I am comforted by the fact that I have the same number of bikes as I have pairs of regularly used shoes. Now trying to decide which is which out of a Brompton and a touring bike versus my trainers and my DM biker-style boots.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  18. ARobComp
    Member

    Are hire bikes like ice skates? Specialised shoes you pay to use once in a while, never that comfortable, and you are looking forward to getting away from them again, but they do the job.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  19. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    The SUNLIT Uplander is something like an old pair of rugged adventure shoes that some insane cobbler has fitted comfort soles to. And waxed cotton laces. And gaiters. And then polished them.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  20. crowriver
    Member

    "Are hire bikes like ice skates?"

    Roller skates.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  21. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I think this also neatly illustrates Tulyar's Brompton.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  22. Trixie
    Member

    Surely the hire bikes are bowling shoes?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  23. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @Trixie

    Yes!

    Posted 5 years ago #

  24. Greenroofer
    Member

    I went to work today in office shoes...with crampons on. They seemed quite sensible on the way in, but a bit ridiculous on the way home.

    I think I might fit crampons to my stout brogues this weekend.

    Luckily you can't fit crampons to posties' steel-toecapped boots. That would make them unrideable unwearable.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  25. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Luckily you can't fit crampons to posties' steel-toecapped boots.

    I often prefer to walk while wearing a single crampon. It's not as bad as you think, although I can fit a pair if need be to my DMs if the weather's really bad.

    I bought a single crampon last year for my clumpy black leather shoes – the soles are different sizes which is kind of strange – but I've yet to encounter the conditions that would require fitting it.

    I'm thinking of getting sticky rubber soles fitted to my Nike Mags. They're not as good in the ice as crampons but easier to walk and run. The best ones are made in Germany, apparently.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  26. wingpig
    Member

    I quite like the weird aches you get after walking quickly through snow and ice with nothing more than a pair of Vibram-soled Merrell Moab and lots of stabilising micro-movements. When I briefly go back to unclippy pedals I notice similar muscles being used to keep pedal and foot in contact.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  27. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I bought a single crampon last year for my clumpy black leather shoes – the soles are different sizes which is kind of strange – but I've yet to encounter the conditions that would require fitting it.

    I fitted the crampon earlier this week to my smaller clumpy shoe, since the weather looked like it might make it worthwhile. I rummaged around in my box and pulled out a larger crampon that I bought ten years ago. It's gone a bit rusty, and one or two of the prongs are missing, but still feels pretty beastly, so I put that on my larger shoe. Just to see how they felt together I walked a few miles to the shops and back, and then did a longer walk yesterday. Walking with crampons is quite hard work and they make a terrible noise, but there was a lot of ice that made it worthwhile.

    Back in the summer, I bought my Orange 5 Pro, which is like a pair of kangaroo jump shoes. They're so much fun! Not as crazy as Powerisers, but they fit me a lot better than my tall heeled leather boots and I'm the same height while wearing them. I've worn them loads since I got them and even went to the shops in them a few times. A couple of teenagers at Sainsbury's said they looked really cool.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  28. wingpig
    Member

    I was too preoccupied watching children to pay much attention to what people running around the Crags were wearing yesterday. Vibram® and careful movements are usually OK for me in most icy conditions but struggle when I have a slippy-booted child on my arm, on a slope, going down. Ordered a set of slip-on stud things the other day which appear to use the same studs as tyres, so can hopefully be refilled using my spare Schwalbe studs.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  29. gembo
    Member

    Lot of slipping above balerno today. I used my stick and vibram but crampons would have been good.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  30. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Used my Yak Trax on the seat but one rubber strand broke and I am going to write a letter in green ink. Only done about 20km.

    Posted 3 years ago #

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